The present invention relates to a computer having a plurality of file bays in which a plurality of file units such as a hard disk drive and a CD-ROM drive can be selectively mounted and, more particularly, to the computer having a function for controlling the temperatures of the file bays.
A conventional computer having a function for controlling the temperature of a file bay provided in the computer will be explained in detail in reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a portable computer 1 of the prior art includes: a space 11; any one of a case 12a to a case 12c detachably mounted in the space 11; a connector 13 in the main body of the portable computer 1; a determining circuit 14 for determining which one of the cases 12a to 12c is mounted; a control circuit 15 for controlling the rotation speed of a radiating fan 16 based on an output from the determining circuit 14; and the radiating fan 16.
The case 12a to the case 12c respectively include a file unit 12a1 to a file unit 12c1.
In this description, the file unit 12a1 is a hard disk drive (an HHD), the file unit 12b1 is a floppy disk drive (an FDD), and the file unit 12c1 is a CD-ROM drive. The number of signal pins of the file unit is different from each other.
Each case (12a to 12c) has a converting board (12a2 to 12c2) corresponding to the file unit (12a1 to 12c1), the file unit is connected to the converting board by the signal pins. Each of converting boards can connect to the connector 13. The connector 13 has signal pins adaptable to the file unit having the greatest number of signal pins and a signal pin for identifying a file unit.
Next, operation of the portable computer 1 will be described below in reference to FIG. 7.
First, one of the cases having the file unit selected by a user is mounted to the space 11. The determining circuit 14 identifies the file unit connected to the connector 13. Subsequently, the control circuit 15 determines the rotation speed of the radiating fan 16 based on heat generating quantities of the mounted file unit, thus actuating the radiating fan 16.
The function for controlling the temperature of a file bay according to the above-described conventional portable computer is for the computer having a single file unit.
The object of the present invention is to provide a computer having a function for controlling temperature of file bays optimally.
According to the present invention, a computer includes a ventilation opening in a wall of the computer, a first file bay that contains a first file unit having its own identification, a second file bay that contains a second file unit having its own identification and that is arranged near the first file bay, a fan that dissipates heat from the first and second file units and that is arranged close to the ventilation opening, a bay identifying circuit that recognizes operation assuring temperatures of the first and second file units by referring to their identifications and determines a blowing direction of the fan; and a fan control circuit that controls the blowing direction of the fan as determined by the bay identifying circuit.